Shoe case



H. A. FRANCE Sept. 29, 1959 SHOE CASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16,1956 Sept 29, 1959 H. A. FRANCE 2,906,407

l SHOE CASE Filed March 16, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 e;Y s A mfjmf 1\\l x Il E /7 G z 32; l 3 l 2/ 1 ff l l l ff 1 i 11)) /2/ ff "7 7 a /6 J4- /4Z0- Y A20 IFJ - f @lo 5 @v9 lllllIlI/ INVENToR. HERBERT FRANCE.

BY ,m-

Patented'sept.

SHOE CASE Herbert A. France, Coventry, Conn. Application March 16, 1956,Serial No. 571,948 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-34) This invention relates to ashoe case and/ or travelling case that is adapted for containing shoesand supporting them in spaced relation for storage or travel purposes.

An object of this invention is to provide such a shoe case havingcertain novel elements of construction and means providing for thearrangement of the shoes in the case in such a manner that they occupy aminimum of space and are held in position against becoming displaced inthe case.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a case which isattractive in appearance, simple in construction and economical tomanufacture.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a novelhandle for the case which may be contained within the case when not inuse.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following description and from the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side View of a shoe case embodying my present invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge View of said case.

Fig. 3 is a side view in central vertical section.

Fig. 4 is an edge view in central vertical section with the handle beingshown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a plan view.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged inside view of a portion of one of the sides ofthe case, with the handle removed therefrom.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the handle therein in raised position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional side view of a corner portion of thecase.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view on line 9-9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail view showing the manner inY which the endsof the tie bar are secured to the sides of the case.

As shown in the drawings, my improved shoe case is preferablyconstructed of two identical side members 5 and 6 which are opposed toeach other. The said side members form side walls having4 a plurality ofbosses 7 extending inwardly therefrom and having recesses therein forreceiving the ends of a plurality of supporting bars 8 which extendacross the interior of the case and are supported thereby between thesaid side members. A separate bar 9 is provided with ilanges 10 whichabut the interior surface of the side walls and are secured thereto bymeans of screws 11--11 that extend through holes in the side Walls andare threaded into holes in the ends of the bars, as clearly illustratedin Fig. l0.

Each of the said side members 5 and 6 preferably comprises asemi-circular upper portion and a rectangular lower portion and isprovided with an inwardly extending flange 12 along the bottom thereofby means of which flanges said side members are secured to a plate 13which forms the bottom of the case.

Each of the side members is formed with an inwardly extending ange 14which runs along its perimeter and toes of the shoes as illustrated inFig. 3.

thereby stiffens the side members and greatly strengthens the case.-Each of the said anges has parallel slots 15 and 16 in which areslidably contained flexible covers 17 and 18, respectively; the saidcovers'being each disposed along a side of the case and terminating atthe top theref of so that it may be slid in its slot to open and closeitsl respective side of the case. These covers may be made of a suitabletransparent material so that the desired pair of shoes may be readilylocated and only the right.

cover moved. n

Each side member also has, at the inner side thereof,-k a slot 19 withside walls 20e-,20 which project inwardly of the inner surfaces of theange 14 and a handle 21`is slidably mounted in said slots and hasprojections 22-22 into the position illustrated in Fig. 7, for use incarrying the case. As shown, the slots 19 are preferably contained inblocks which are secured to the inner sides of the side members near theupper edges thereof.

In their normal position, the covers 17 and 1S are separated at theirupper ends, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to leave a slot therebetweenthrough which the handle may be moved to its raised position; the saidhandle being normally disposed below the covers, as shown in Fig. 3, topermit them to be moved for closing the slot when desired. When in itsnormal position, the handle is supported by the bar 9 which also servesto retain the handle in the slots 19.

In order to provide for resting my improved shoe case upon aconventional suit case, or the like, to conserve storage space and raisethe case off the oor for convenient accessibility, the bottom plate 13has an opening 23 therein to receive the handle of the suit case and anupwardly curved plate 2.4, which extends across the bottom of the case,is mounted upon the bottom plate to cover said opening 23 from theinside of the case.

The bars 8 are preferably arranged as shown in Fig. 3' and they willsupport the shoes, indicated in dotted lines, with the heels hangingover the outer row of said bars and the soles resting upon the inner rowso that the said shoes are disposed radially Within the case as shown.This arrangement of the bars also allows an extremely long heel of ashoe on one of the bars to nest into the opening of the shoe beneath it.

The bars 8 preferably have plain ends fitting into the recesses in thebosses 7 and held securely therein by the tie bar 9 and the bottomplates 13 and 24 which secure the opposed sides 5 and 6 of the casetogether.

The case is preferably made of a width which will accommodate a pair ofshoes arranged horizontally on the bars 8. Therefore, in the embodimentof the invention illustrated, as many as eight pairs of shoes may becontained within the case.

When it is desired to remove from or insert a pair of shoes into thecase, the respective cover 17 or 18 may be slid back to the oppositeside of the case to render the interior accessible.

The covers 17 and 18, when in their normal positions, leave a slotbetween their upper ends through which the handle 21 may be readilygrasped and moved into its raised position. Notches 25-25 may also beprovided to facilitate reaching the handle with the fingers.

The said case is also preferably provided with a drawer 26 which isslidable in a tube 27 that extends through the center of the case andutilizes the space between the The drawer has a front 28 which iits atlyagainst the side of the case and has a hole 29 therein into which afinger may be inserted for pulling the said drawer.

1, A shoe case comprising a pair of opposed spaced members having agenerally semi-circular portion, a bot-A tom extending across the lowerportion of said case, and a plurality of shoe supporting bars secured toand disp osed between said members; said bars being arranged in spacedpairs disposed radially about the central lower portion of said case.

2. A shoe case comprising a pair of opposed members having generallysemiicircular side members, and a plurality of shoe supporting barssecured to and disposed between said members; said bars being arrangedin spaced pairs disposed radially within said case with the pairs at oneside of the case opposed/co those at the opposite side.

3. A shoe case comprising a pair of opposed side members having agenerally semi-circular upper portion and a generally rectangular lowerportion, and a plurality of 'shoe supporting bars secured to anddisposed between said upper portions of the members; said bars beingarranged in spaced pairs disposed radially within said case with thepairs at one side opposed to those in the other side of said case tothereby support shoes on said bars with their toes pointing generallytoward the center of the lower portion of said case.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS214,757 Conant Apr. 29, 1879 354,277 Walker Dec. 14, 1886 838,952Crabill Dec. 18, 1906 1,102,037 Gibson June 30, 1914 1,668,358 DelucaMay 1, 1928 1,703,132 Acheson Feb. 26, 1929 1,742,976 Vance Jan. 7, 19301,828,535 Kass Oct, 20, 1931 2,105,550 Pilliod et al. Jan. 18, 19382,152,192 Holman Mar. 28, 1939 2,710,082 Ruge June 7, 1955 2,745,524Plotkin May 15, 1956

